NCAA 13 Heisman Challenge: Barry Sanders hints

NCAA 13 launched on July 10th with a slew of new features. The most notable among them is the Heisman Challenge, where you take one of 16 players, put them on any team, and play a season as them. This series is going to feature tips on using each player, as each one will control and play differently. Well without further ado, here are some tips on how to make the most out the Heisman Challenge. Part 1 (Tim Tebow) can be found HERE

Heisman #2: Barry Sanders (I used Alabama)

Barry Sanders is an interesting player in NCAA 13. He has top-notch juke moves and speed, but doesn’t break many tackles. The tackles he does break take a while for the animation to play out, which results in other defenders tackling you before you can get up field. Here are some tips for getting the most out of a season with Barry Sanders.

Pro Tip #1: Don’t field punts / kick returns – While looking through the scoring system, I didn’t notice any additional points for punt/kick return yards or touchdowns. On kick returns, I would call for a fair catch, hitting Y or triangle on your controller, to down the ball as far back as possible. You have more potential for rushing yards if you start on the 5-yard line instead of the 20. I would also let punts go over my head, for the same reason as above.

Pro Tip #2: Weave through defenders – About halfway through the season, I noticed that juke moves were slowing me down too much. A much better solution is to not use anything when you’re by a pack of defenders or trying to make someone miss up the middle. Using Barry Sander’s excellent agility rating can be enough to break free of defenders, so try to evade them just by reading where they are and which way they’re going. You don’t lose speed this way.

Pro Tip #3: Get to the sidelines – After you get free of defenders or are running a sweep or stretch play, you need to get as close to the sidelines as possible. This way you don’t have to worry about defenders on half of the screen. Juke moves are much easier to pull off closer to the sideline as well because you can juke towards the field and not worry about being caught as easily.

Pro Tip #4: Run to lineman’s hips – The way to get the most yards is to be a north-south runner, as in you want to be going forward as much as possible. So when you see a teammate blocking for you, you’ll want to get as close as possible to them in order to not lose speed by going around them. I’ve found that running within a foot of their hip is the perfect distance in order to maintain speed and not change your direction. If you change direction too much, you’ll lose speed and be an easier target to bring down.

Pro Tip #5: Switch to run plays – If you see a passing play, click L2 or the left trigger to see more plays. You want to do as many running plays as possible to get more yards and touchdowns. You are a running back after all.

Pro Tip #6: Reaction time – Use reaction time as long as you can. It makes everything mentioned previously easier to do. If you’re not familiar, reaction time slows down the game and makes all your moves easier to see and pull off. Use this feature to watch the angles the defenders are coming from, and make them pay.

Barry Sanders is a good player to use in NCAA 13, even though I was disappointed by his juke moves and break tackle animations. If you rely on his speed and use the tips above, you will do just fine.

Which player do you want me to cover next? Have you tried using Barry Sanders in NCAA 13? Let me know in the comments below. If you missed my Tim Tebow article, you can find it here.